Radio telecommunications system and method of operating the same with polling

ABSTRACT

An apparatus or method for transmitting data blocks on a communications channel having a radio link between two stations including a user equipment comprises receiving first data blocks from the user equipment, and transmitting second data blocks to the user equipment. A polling interval is dynamically set for the transmission of polling messages to the user equipment after transmission of the second data blocks, the polling interval being set in accordance with at least one of: a size of one or more data blocks received by the apparatus from the user equipment, a size of one or more blocks transmitted from the apparatus to the user equipment, and a service to which the user equipment is subscribed. The apparatus may be used as a PCU in a cellular mobile telephone system.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No 10/810,507 filed Mar. 26, 2004,which is hereby incorporated by reference.

The present invention relates to wireless telecommunication networks,especially cellular wireless telecommunications networks as well assatellite systems, wireless Local Area Networks (LAN) and MetropolitanArea Networks (MAN) and network elements for use therewith. It isparticularly relevant to such telecommunication systems which have beenoptimized for packet data transmission.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

Traditionally, radio telecommunication systems have been designed almostexclusively for voice or for packet data. There have been severalattempts to design systems to provide both data and voice in the samesystem. One such proposal is the ETSI General Packet Radio Service(GPRS) which is designed for packet data transfer and is an overlaynetwork on the circuit switched GSM system which is designed for speechcommunication. A GPRS architecture proposed by ETSI in TechnicalSpecification 3.6 is shown in FIG. 1. Shown mainly on the left of thediagram is a conventional GSM mobile telephone system for full duplexvoice communications comprising a Mobile Switching Centre (MSC) a BaseStation System (BSS) usually including a Base Station Controller (BSC)and a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), and a mobile terminal (MT) and aHome Location Register (HLR). Packet data services are limited to theShort Message Service (SMS) which is dealt with by an SMS Gateway MobileSwitching Centre (SMS-GMSC) and a Short Message Service Centre (SM-SC).Fax is dealt with as in an ordinary telephone system, e.g. via suitablemodems and an Interworking Function (IWF) fax data is transmitted viacircuit switching. Hence, conventional mobile telecommunications systemsgenerally use what may be described as circuit switched datatransmissions. GPRS adds two new nodes to such a system, namely theServing GPRS Support Node (SGSN) and the Gateway GPRS Support node(GGSN), both of which may be seen as routers. The SGSN contains theidentity of MT in its routing tables which are inserted when the MTregisters with the network. The GGSN is connected to other data carryingnetworks, for example a Packet Data network (PDN), for the receipt andtransmission of packets of data. As the GPRS system is in parallel tothe GSM system information about change of location of the MT is alsosent to the SGSN/GGSN.

The above hybrid system may be adapted to a Third Generation MobileTelephone system such as the UNITS system as shown schematically in FIG.2. Further details of such an implementation may be found in the book byOjanperá and Prasad, “Wideband CDMA for Third Generation MobileCommunications”, Artech House Publishers, 1998. Basically, the RadioAccess Network (RAN) provides the network-side equipment forcommunicating with the MT. A GPRS SGSN and a UMTS MSC are provided inparallel between the RAN and the relevant network, i.e. or a PDN or aPublic Service Telephone Network (PSTN), respectively.

For multimedia and especially highly interactive wireless applicationsthere can be a wide variation in the amount of data to be sent in onedirection as well as in the rate at which replies to the data areexpected. Further, there is a general interest in providing services atdifference priorities and at different prices. This, the GPRS standardsprovide, especially in ETSI standard 3GPP TS 0.8.18 (e.g. V8.10.0(2002-05)), possibilities to dynamically adjust the Quality of Service(Q S) for data transmitted over the air interface.

GPRS provides a connectionless support for data transmission. However,in order to use the scarce resources on the radio air interface betweenthe BTS and the MT, a circuit switched radio resource allocation isused. Thus, although the networks attached to the GC SN may operate in acompletely connectionless way, the transmission of the data packetsacross the air interface makes use of conventional timeslot and framemanagement. Accordingly, at some position in the GPRS network a packethandler is required which prepares the packets for transmission inframes across the air interface and receives the frames from the airinterface and prepares them for transmission to the data network. Thisunit may be called a Packet Control Unit (PCU) and may be placed atseveral alternative positions, e.g. in the Base Transceiver Station(BTS), in the Base Station Controller (BSC) or between the BSC and theSGSN. Generally, the PCU may be assigned to some part of the BSS—thebase station system. Typically frame relay will be used between the PCUand the SGSN.

Referring to FIG. 1 and 2, in order to access GPRS services, a userequipment (UE) such as a mobile terminal (MT) or mobile phone firstperforms a GPRS attachment. This operation establishes a logical linkbetween the UE and the SGSN, and makes the UE, available for SMS (ShortMessage Services) over GPRS, paging via SGSN, and notification ofincoming GPRS data. Also the authentication of the user is carried outby the SGSN in the GPRS attachment procedure In order to send andreceive GPRS data, the UE activates the packet data address wanted to beused, by requesting a PDP activation procedure (Packet Data Protocol).This operation makes the UE known in the corresponding GGSN, andinterworking with external data networks can commence. Moreparticularly, a PDP context is created in the UE, the GGSN and the SGSN.The packet data protocol context defines different data transmissionparameters, such as the PDP type (e.g. X25 or IP), the PDP address(e.g., X.121 address), the quality of service (QoS) and the NSAPI(Network Service Access Point Identifier). The UE activates the POPcontext with a specific message comprising the TLLI (Temporary logiclink Identity), an Activate PDP Context Request, in which it givesinformation on the PDP type, the POP address, the required QoS and theNSAPI, and optionally the access point name (APN). The SGSN provides theTLLI which identifies the UE.

The setting up of circuit switched calls across the air interface in aGPRS network is shown in message flows in FIGS. 3 and 4. In FIG. 3 adata request is initiated by a mobile terminal (MT) using an accesscontrol channel, e.g. a Random Access Channel RACH. When a MT has somedata to send it makes an Uplink Radio. Connection Establishment Requestspecifying how much data is to be sent. The RAN replies with aconfirmation message that the uplink radio link is provided and givesdetails of when and how the MT is to transmit, e.g. which timeslot andhow much of the timeslot can be used. Then the data is transmitted bythe MT on a traffic channel and the RAN disconnects the radio link afterall data has been transmitted successfully. The data received by the RANis forwarded to the SGSN and from there to the GGSN which removes anyheaders used for transporting the data up to this point and transfersthe data to the relevant PDN, e.g. via the Internet to a remote server.As some time later the answer to the data arrives from the remote site,e.g. a service provider's server on the Internet. On receipt of thisanswer a downlink radio connection is set up by the RAN via a controlchannel and the answer data transferred via a traffic channel. Aftertransfer the radio connection is released once again.

FIG. 4 shows a similar message scheme when the initiating message isdownlink. Again, the downlink and uplink transfers are not coupled sothat the downlink radio connection is released at the end of thedownlink transmission and before the answering uplink transmission.

Data transmission over an air interface is subject to error s. For somepacket data transmissions some guarantee of the received data isrequired. Traditionally this has been achieved by an automatic repeatrequest (ARQ) protocol in which ACK (accepted) and NACK (not accepted)messages returned depending on whether a received block of data wascorrectly received or not. Either the failure to receive an ACK messagewithin a predetermined time or the receipt of a NACK message thistriggers resending of the data. A known problem with such as scheme issetting an optimum time interval for receipt of an ACK message beforethe data is resent. Too short a time can result in data being resentfrequently when an ACK message is still going to be received and wouldhave stopped the resend. Too long a time can result in use of largebuffers to accommodate data until the status of this data is clarified.U.S. Pat. No. 6,289,224 proposes a scheme in which the length of timefor an outbound communication is determined and this is transmitted tothe transmitting device so that the timer can be started. This knowntechnique relies on the fact that the type of data to be sent issensibly constant. However, in the type of applications mentioned abovethe data rates and answer frequencies can be very varied and the knownscheme is not optimal in all circumstances.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a data carryingcellular mobile radio telecommunications system and a method ofoperating the same which provides an improved QoS.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

it is an object of the present invention to provide apparatus for a datacarrying cellular mobile radio telecommunications system and a method ofoperating the same which provides an improved QoS.

The present invention provides an apparatus for transmitting data blockson a communications channel having a radio link between two stationsincluding a user equipment, comprising.

-   -   means for receiving first data blocks from the user equipment;    -   means for transmitting second data blocks to the user equipment;        and    -   means for dynamically setting a polling interval for the        transmission of polling messages to the user equipment after        transmission of the second data blocks, the polling interval        being set in accordance with at least one of: a size of one or        more data blocks received by the apparatus from the user        equipment, a size of one or more blocks transmitted from the        apparatus to the user equipment, and a service, to which the        user equipment is subscribed.

The means for dynamically setting a polling interval may be adapted toset the polling interval for each user equipment independently or for agroup of user equipments. The group of user equipments may be defined bya subscription to a service. The user equipment may comprise one or moreuser equipments having a first priority and one or more user equipmentshaving a second priority lower than the first priority, and the meansfor dynamically setting a polling interval may be adapted to reduce thepolling interval when the user equipments having a first priority arenot transmitting.

The apparatus may comprise a buffer means fat buffering data blocks tobe transmitted to the UE by the apparatus. The means for dynamicallysetting a polling interval may be adapted to set the polling interval inaccordance with an occupancy state of the buffer means.

The user equipment may be located in a radio coverage area of a cellularmobile radio network and the means for dynamically setting a pollinginterval may be adapted to set the polling interval in accordance withat least an estimated used transmission capacity value for the radiocoverage area.

The means for dynamically setting a polling interval may include astorage unit for storing information relating to user equipments. Thestorage unit may include data relating to any of a user equipmentidentifier, a quality of service profile associated with a userequipment, a number of user equipments located within a geographicalarea. The means for dynamically setting a polling interval may beadapted to set the polling interval in accordance with a qualityparameter of signals received over the radio link.

The above apparatus may be part of a cellular radio telecommunicationnetwork comprising one or more base stations in communication with oneor more user equipments. The apparatus may be a packet control unitwhich has a first input for data from an asynchronous interface and asecond input for data from a synchronous interface.

The present invention provides a method for transmitting data blocksover a communications channel including a radio link between twostations to and from a user equipment, comprising:

-   -   receiving first data blocks from the user equipment;    -   transmitting second data blocks to the user equipment; and    -   dynamically setting a polling interval for the transmission of        polling messages to the user equipment after transmission of the        second data blocks, the polling interval being set in accordance        with at least one of: a size of one or more data blocks received        by the apparatus from the user equipment, a size of one or more        blocks transmitted from the apparatus to the user equipment, and        a service to which the user equipment is subscribed.

The method may include setting the polling interval for each userequipment independently or for a group of user equipments. One or moreuser equipments may have a first priority and one or more userequipments may have a second priority lower than the first priority, anddynamically setting a polling interval may comprise reducing, thepolling interval when the user equipments having a first priority arenot transmitting. The user equipment may be located in a radio coveragearea of a cellular mobile radio network and dynamically setting apolling interval may comprise setting the polling interval in accordancewith at least an estimated used transmission capacity value for theradio coverage area,

The present invention will now be described with reference to the foilowing drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic diagrams of a mobile telephone network towhich the present invention may be applied.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are conventional message flows for transmitting datablocks across an air interface between a user equipment a RAN and a datanetwork.

FIG. 5 is a detail of a mobile telephone network with packet datatransmission capacity with which the present invention can be used.

FIG. 6 is a conventional protocol stack which can be used with thepresent invention,

FIG. 7 is a schematic representation of a PCU with which the presentinvention can be used.

FIG. 8 is a PCU in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 9 is a message flow of data blocks across an air interface forillustrating the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be described with respect to particularembodiments and with reference to certain drawings but the invention isnot limited thereto but only by the claims. The drawings described areonly schematic and are non-limiting. The drawings are not drawn toscale.

Furthermore, the terms first, second, third and the like in thedescription and in the claims, are used for distinguishing betweensimilar elements and not necessarily for describing a sequential orchronological order. It is to be understood that the terms so used areinterchangeable under appropriate circumstances and that the embodimentsof the invention described herein are capable of operation in othersequences than described or illustrated herein.

It is to be noticed that the term “comprising”, used in the claims,should not be interpreted as being restricted to the means listedthereafter; it does not exclude other elements or steps. Thus, the scopeof the expression “a device comprising means A and B” should not belimited to devices consisting only of components A and B. It means thatwith respect to the present invention, the only relevant components ofthe device are A and B.

In particular the present invention will mainly be described withreference to cellular mobile telephone systems but the present inventionis not limited thereto. For instance, the present invention may beadvantageously used in wireless local area networks (LAN) orMetropolitan Access Networks particularly when there is an symmetricalflow of data. Various types of wireless LAN have been standardized orare in general use, e.g. the standards IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.11HR(Spread Spectrum) and systems based on DECT, BlueTooth, HIPERLAN,Diffuse or point-to-point infra-red. Wireless LAN's are discussed indetail in “Wireless LAN's” by Jim Geier, Macmillan Technical Publishing,1999. Further, the present invention will mainly be described withreference to a TDMA system such as GSM or GPRS but the present JOinvention is nor limited thereto. The sharing of a data channel bymultiple user terminals may include for instance sharing a code in aCDMA system or sharing a frequency in a Frequency Division MultipleAccess system. Examples of wireless communication networks with supportfor packet data transfer to the wireless terminal of a mobile user arePDC-P networks (Pacific Digital Cellular), which in Japan provides theexisting mode service, GSM networks (Global System for MobileCommunications) providing GPRS services (General Packet Radio Service),particularly in Europe and systems using radio networks based on EDGEtechnology (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM and TDMA/136 Evolution).Further, the present invention will mainly be described with respect toa cellular mobile telephone system but the present invention may findadvantageous use in a Public Mobile Radio (PMR) system.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 5 each base station 20 is supervised by abase station controller 21 or BSC by way of an interface called Abis. Inorder to manage the transmission of GPRS packets, the as furthercomprises a packet control unit or PCU 22. The present invention doesnot require the location of the PCU 22 to be within the BSS. The presentinvention is generally applicable whether the data source consisting ofthe PCU 22 is remote from the sending stations consisting of the BTS's20 or not. The BTU 20 can communicate with one or more user equipmentsUE 10. The UE 10 may be any suitable communicating device whether mobileor stationary, e.g. a mobile phone, a laptop, a Personal Data Assistant(PDA), a pocket PC, a palmtop, a desktop computer, etc. In the examplerepresented in FIG. 5, the PCU 22 is situated between the BSC 21, withwhich it communicates via an interface called AGPRS, and the SGSN 5,with which it communicates via the interface Gb. The SGSN 5 is linked tothe BSS by way of an interface called Gb, and the GGSN serves as agateway with external packer transmission networks (PDN), such as theInternet, for example,

The Gb interface is of asynchronous type. A protocol stack is shown inFIG. 6. It is typically based on the frame relay (FR) protocol, as wellas on a protocol called BSSGP (BSS GPRS Protocol) which transportsmuting and quality-of-service information between the BSS and the SGSN.A Gb interface controller provides the physical link with the SGSN, aswell as carving out the procedures specific to the FR and BSSGPprotocols.

A schematic PCU 22 is shown in FIG. 7. The links between the PCU 22 andthe BTSs 20 via the AGPRS interface are of synchronous type and hencepackets arriving from the asynchronous Gb interface need to be queued.Consequently, a buffer 41 is provided to manage packet queues and AGPRSand Gb interface controllers 24, 40, respectively to control packetflow. A module 46 of the AGPRS interface controller 24 implements theradio protocols of layer 2 of the OSI model, that is to say the RLC/MAC(Radio Link Control/Medium Access Control—see FIG. ) protocols describedin the European Standard ETSI EN 301 349, “Digital cellulartelecommunications system (Phase 2+), General Packet Radio Service(GARS); Mobile Station (MS)—Base Station System (BSS) interface; RadioLink Control/Medium Access Control (RLC/MAC) protocol (GSM 04.60.version 8.3.1, Release 1999)”, published by ETSI in October 2000.

The RLC sublayer forms the interface with the upper-layer protocol,called LLC (Logical Link Control). It carries out the segmentation andthe reassembling of LLC protocol data units (LLC-PDUs), which areexchanged asynchronously on the Gb interface. It produces RLC datablocks to which the MAC sublayer adds a one-byte MAC header.

In the downlink direction, from the PCU 22 to the UE's 10, the MACheader each RLC/MAC block includes:

-   -   a) a three-bit USE (Uplink State Flag) field, serving to        indicate which UE 10 is authorized to use an uplink resource        corresponding to the downlink. resource on which the RLC/MAC        block is transmitted:    -   b) a three-bit acknowledgement control field, including a        one-bit S/P (Supplementary/Polling) subfield indicating whether        the acknowledgement-control field is active (S/P=1), Or inactive        (S/P=0) and a two-bit RRBP (Relative Reserved Block Period)        subfield uniquely specifying an uplink block in which the UE 10        which is addressed should transmit an acknowledgement message:    -   c) a two-bit Payload Type field, specifying the type of RLC        block following, (data, control, etc).

Each RLC block includes an RLC header following the MAC header byte.This RLC header especially includes the following information:

-   -   a) a Temporary flow identity (TFI), consisting of five bits        identifying the temporary block flow (TBF), from which the RLC        data of the block originate. A TBF is a connection supporting        the unidirectional LLC-PDU transfer on physical data channels A        TBF is temporary, that is to say that it is maintained only        during a time of data transfer,    -   b) a block sequence, number BSN which relates to a sequence        number of the RLC/MAC block in the TBF,

The MAC sublayer manages the multiplexing of the blocks arising from thevarious TBFs which are active on the available physical channels,arbitrating among the various UE's 10 via a planning mechanism.

A corresponding RLC/MAC entity of a UE 10, which is the addressee of thedownlink data blocks of a TBF, keeps a reception-state variable V(R)up-to-date for this flow, which indicates the BSN following the highestBSN received on this TBF. The number V(R) thus points to the end of areception window, the length of which is WS RLC/MAC blocks. Upon receiptof a polling command from the transmission controller 53, i.e., a blockwhose MAC header has the S/P bit equal to 1, the UE 10 returns, in theuplink blocks specified by the RRBP subfield, a PDAN (Packet DownlinkAck/Nack) acknowledgement message which in particular includes:

-   -   a) an SSN (Starting Sequence Number) field of SNS bits        containing the current variable V(R) for the TBF, and    -   b) an RBB (Receive Block Bitmap) field representing a bitmap of        WS bits indicating those blocks of the reception window which        have been correctly received.

A positive acknowledgement of a block is indicated by the value 1 of therelevant part of the bitmap represented by RRB, and a negativeacknowledgement by the value 0.

Upon receipt of the PDAN message, a module 55 of the PCU 22 updates (seeFIG. 8), for the TBF, an acknowledgement-state variable V(A) whichcontains the BSN of the oldest block which has not been positivelyacknowledged, as well as a table V(B) with WS entries indicating theacknowledgement states of WS consecutive blocks respectively from thatdesignated by V(A), these WS consecutive blocks forming a transmissionwindow. The possible acknowledgement states are: positiveacknowledgement (ACK); negative acknowledgement (NACK), andacknowledgement not yet received (ACK_PENDING). The state variables V(A)and V(B) are deduced directly from the SSN and RBB fields received inthe last PDAN message. The RLC/MAC protocol allows blocks to betransmitted only within the transmission window thus managed by the PCU22. Outside this window, transmission of the blocks is inhibited.

In the case of GPRS, the standard specifies the values SNS=7, WS=64. Avariable level of protection can be selected block by block within aTBF, by the choice of a coding scheme (CS) from among four schemes CS-1to CS-4 specified in the European Standard ETSI EN 300 909, Digitalcellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+) Channel coding (GSM 05.03.version 8.5.1. Release 1999), published by ETSI in November 2000.

Scheme CS-4 does not use any error-correction coding, i.e. the codingrate is equal to 1: only a block check sequence HCS is appended to thedata blocks, Schemes CS-1 to CS-3 use a convolutional code of rate 1/2after the addition of the BCS sequence. No puncturing is carried out inthe CS-1 scheme (which offers the highest level of protection), whilepuncturing is applied in the CS-2 and CS-3 schemes so that they giverise to overall coding rates of about ⅔ and of about ¾, respectively

Each coded RLC/MAC block is transmitted in corresponding timeslots offour TDMA (Time-Division Multiple Access) frames on a carrier frequency,the successive TDMA frames each being broken down into eight timeslotsto provide for time-division channel multiplexing.

A pattern of eight signaling bits SB is inserted into each coded frame(two bits per timeslot) so as to indicate in particular which codingscheme has been applied by the transmitter.

These signaling bits are extracted from the coded block received by theaddressee, to allow it to identify the coding scheme. The receiver thencarries out the appropriate decoding of the block which will give riseto a positive acknowledgement if it is successful and if the decoded BCSis consistent with the content of the block.

The coding scheme applied to the downlink is determined in a way inwhich is known in itself by the PCU 22 on the basis of measurements ofreception quality on the radio link, according to link adaptationmechanisms which seek to achieve an target in terms of rate oferror-affected blocks so as to optimize the raw throughput. The selectedscheme is inserted into the TRAU frame carrying the block so as to, beapplied by the BTS 20.

The above-mentioned ETSI standards also specify an extension of the GPRSsystem, using EDGE (Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution) modulation. Thisextension is called EGPRS (EDGE-GPRS). In a EGPRS system, the RLC/MAClayer uses SNS=11, and WS adjustable between 64 and 1024. The RLC andMAC headers are grouped together into a single RLC/MAC header which nolonger has the “Payload Type” field and in which the S/P bit is replacedby a two-bit ES/P subfield making it passible to specify differentacknowledgement formats when polling.

Nine modulation and cod ng schemes, called MCS-1 to MCS-9 are provided.The scheme used for a given block, as well as any puncturing schemebeing applied, are indicated in a CPS (Coding and Puncturing Schemeindicatory field of the EGPRS RLC/MAC header.

The whole of the EGPRS RLC/MAC header is the subject of channel codingseparate from that of the data of the block. The level of protection ofthis header against transmission errors is higher than that of the data,in order to ensure greater robustness of the signaling information.However, the present invention is not limited to highly protected headerinformation.

FIG. 8 illustrates one possible organization of the RLC/MAC entity ofthe PCU 22 for a downlink TBF. The data of the LLC-PDU, which aresegmented into RLC/MAC blocks, are kept in the buffer memory 41 untilthese blocks have been positively acknowledged. The transmissioncontroller 53 has means t© carry out each one of the followingfunctions:

-   -   a) means to select a TBF for each transmission period on the        channel, by means of a known scheduling mechanism,    -   b) for the selected TBF, means to select an RLC/MAC block to be        transmitted, especially on the basis of the state variables V(A)        and V(R) and of the presence or absence of a new block in the        queue relating to the TBF in the transmission buffer 41;    -   c) means to select the coding schemes CS-i which the BTS 20 will        apply to the block, and allocation of the corresponding value to        the eight-hit signaling pattern SB. If the ARQ mechanism has led        to selection of a block which has already been transmitted        previously, the coding scheme adopted may be the same (GPRS        case) or a more robust scheme (option in case of EGPRS). If the        selected block is a new block, the coding scheme is determined        by a conventional link adaptation mechanism,    -   d) if the selected block is a new block, means to extract a        number of bits of information from the buffer 41, this number        corresponding to the size defined for the coding scheme adopted;        if not, new extraction of the data from the previously        transmitted block;    -   e) means to determine the content of the RLC/MAC header and        control of the insertion of this header by a module 54. The        transmission controller 53 sets the TFI and BSN fields as well        as the S/P-RRBP acknowledgement control field to poll the MS for        acknowledgement.

The RLC/MAC, block delivered by the module and the SB bits form part ofthe information placed in a TRAU frame transmitted to the BTS involved.

The module 55 represented in FIG. 8 handles the PDAN messages receivedfrom the addressee UE to update the state variables V(A) and V(B) of theTBF. The blocks of the TBF which were transmitted by the PCU 22 afterthe polling block to which a PDAN message responds remain in theACK_PENDING state, while the other blocks which have been transmitted upto this polling block are set to the ACK or HACK state depending on thevalue of the corresponding bit of the RBB bitmap (in EGPRS, this RBBbitmap can be transmitted in compressed form, and then has to be decodedcorrespondingly by the module).

The present invention relates to the operation of the transmissioncontroller 53, in conventional systems the transmission controller 53polls a UE during a TBF at fixed intervals. In accordance withembodiments of the present invention the transmission controller 53 canselect a variable length polling interval for each UE 10. The selectionmay be for all UE's a group UE's, especially a group of UE's whichsubscribe to a certain service/QoS profile, or on a UE-by-UE basis. Inaccordance with another aspect of the present invention the transmissioncontroller 53 has means for polling interval selection that depends uponQoS requirements of the network. In particular, the selection of pollinginterval may depend upon factors which favor a shorter polling intervaland/or factors which favor a longer polling interval.

Table 1 is derived from the book “Principes de Radiocommunication deTroisiéme Génération”, T. Lucidarme, Vuibert, 2002, section 2.6,4 andprovides various QoS parameters which can be dynamically adjusted inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention.

TABLE 1 Class of service QoS parameters Priority 1, 2, 3 (1 is thehighest) Reliabiliy 1-5 (5 is the most reliable) Transmission delay 1-4(1 is the most rapid) Maximum Data Rate allowed 1-9 (9 is the highestrate) Average Data Rate expected 1-18, (18 is the highest average rate)

Examples of factors which can favor a shorter polling interval may beselected from at least one of:

-   -   1) Messages sent and received by a UE 10 communicated over a        certain time period are short. This is an indication of an        interactive application, e.g. can occur when a game is being        played using SMS. In this case, the UE 10 may wait an        excessively long time on average before receiving an answer if        the polling interval is not reduced.    -   2) When the reception is poor and/or when the coding scheme used        for the headers and/or ate blocks is not well protected. In this        case a large number of repeat requests can be expected so that a        UE 10 will be in a position to request a resend of a block very        often.    -   3) Time of day or geographical location of the relevant cell.        Time of day (peak hours, evening, night) and geographical        location (rural, city center) may also be suitable parameters to        determine polling interval,    -   4) When the length of the TBF is selected to be short as part of        an optimization scheme. The longer the TBF, the more bandwidth        is available for other traffic. However, a short TBF may be        appropriate when there is a long wait for answers, e.g. when        browsing and the Internet access is slow.    -   5) When buffering at the PCU 22 is reaching capacity. When a        large number of blocks are being buffered at a PCU 22 an attempt        can be made to reduce this by polling at a higher rate. In this        way, as soon as a UE 10 is ready to acknowledge blocks and thus        free them from the buffer, a polling command is sent.

Examples of factors which can favor not shortening the polling intervalmay be selected from at least one of:

-   -   1. Messages sent and received by a UE 10 over a time period are        long and the reception is good. This can occur when sending        large files. In this case, it is inefficient to poll when        nothing is to be resent.    -   2. The cell is congested. In case of high traffic, lengthening        the polling interval reduces the number of control messages and        therefore increases traffic capacity. This can also be used to        discourage non-vital activities such as games at peak hours by        deliberately slowing down responses    -   3. Some UEs 10 have a high priority rating while some UE's 10        have a low priority and require short polling intervals. The        priority rating is obtainable by the PCU 22 from an information        element as indicated in table 1 above. In this case high polling        rates may reduce the bandwidth for high priority users, in this        case a better service can be provided for the high priority        users by not shortening the polling interval.    -   4. Time of day or geographical location of the relevant cell.        Time of day (peak hours, evening, night) and geographical        location (rural, city center) may also be suitable parameters to        determine polling interval.

In accordance with embodiments of the present invention the PCU 22comprises means to determine whether a UE or a group of UE's or all ornone of the LTE's are polled by one of at least two polling intervals.In the following various methods of determining which UE's should haveshorter or longer polling intervals will be described.

Across the Gb interface signals for many UE's are multiplexed. The SGSNcommunicates with the BSS using PDU's. A PDU may contain a reference tothe UE by means of the TLLI and/or the IMSI. In addition it may containpriority information, QoS profile information, a cell identifier toidentify with which radio cell a UE is communicating, a location area inwhich a UE is registered, the location area normally being larger thanone cell, and/or a routing area which is similar to a location area butspecifically related to data traffic, e.g. via GPRS services. Thus,being examining these PDU's a PCU 22 and in particular the transmissioncontroller 53 can extract and store QoS relevant information, e.g.information linking UE identifiers and/or TLLI), a geographical area inwhich a UE, is located (cell, routing area or location areal as well asQoS information (QoS profile, priority, etc.). This information may bestored in a suitable memory, e.g. storage unit 56 with which thetransmission controller is in communication. For instance, the storageunit 56 may store a table comprising the QoS relevant informationdescribed above. This table is a record of potential activity.

In accordance with embodiments of the present invention the transmissioncontroller 53 accesses the storage unit 56 and calculates relevantstatistics in order to decide on whether a shorter polling time is to beinitiated. The relevant statistics may include the number of active UE'sassociated with a certain geographical area and a QoS profile. Forexample, the operational congestion of a geographical area may beestimated in the following way, for each of N QoS profiles Q1 . . . QN,a bandwidth B¹ 1 . . . B¹N is determined for the expected usage of theair interface for a UE which subscribes to the relevant QoS profile andfor a first polling interval as well as a number of UE's N1 . . . NN foreach QoS profile. The relevant bandwidth B may be determined, forinstance, as a guaranteed bandwidth for the relevant subscription or asa statistical average of actually used bandwidth. For one or more QoSprofiles a second polling interval, e.g. a shorter polling interval maybe selected by the transmission controller 53. This second interval willresult in a different bandwidth for each QoS, that is bandwidths B² 1 .. . B²N. From the Assuming by way of example only that one QoS profilehas a second bandwidth B² and that the total available bandwidth in ageographical area is B_(TOTAL) then in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention the transmission controller calculates therelationship between the expected bandwidth and the total availablebandwidth. For example, the decision to allow a shorter polling intervalfor the QoS profile QM may be determined provided:

ΣN1×B ¹1+N2×B ²2 . . . +NM×B ² M+ . . . +NN×B ¹ N≤k ₁ ×B _(TOTAL)  Eq. 1

where k₁ is a constant which may be 1 or any other number. By remainingwithin the equality represented by Eq. 1, there is some safeguard thatbandwidth requirements will not be exceeded for the relevantgeographical area. By varying the value of k₁, the security can beincreased or decreased.

In accordance with a further embodiment the number of UE's of one QoSprofile which can be allowed a shorter polling interval can becalculated in accordance with Eq. 2:

$\begin{matrix}\frac{\begin{matrix}{k_{2}\mspace{14mu} {B_{TOTAL} \cdot \left( {{\sum{N\; 1 \times B^{1}1}} + {N\; 2 \times B^{1}2\mspace{14mu} \ldots} +} \right.}} \\\left. {{{NM} \times B^{1}M} + \ldots + {{NN} \times B^{1}N}} \right)\end{matrix}}{{B^{2}M} - {B^{1}M}} & {{Eq}.\mspace{14mu} 2}\end{matrix}$

Where k₂ is a number such as k₁.

Eq. 2 calculates the difference between B_(TOTAL) (optionally multipliedby a factor k₂) and the estimated bandwidth for the current active UE's.This difference represents the available bandwidth which may be used upfor shorter polling intervals. By dividing this bandwidth by thedifference between the bandwidth for UE's with the Mth QoS profile whenthere is short and normal polling intervals; the number of UEs which maybe changed from normal polling to shorter polling can be determined.

The skilled person will appreciate that Eq.s 1 and 2 can be modified toallow more than one set of UE's to have shorter polling intervals. Thepresent invention also includes within its scope other algorithms fordetermining whether shorter polling should be allowed. For example,simply the percentage of UE's having a specific QoS profile may be usedas a decision criterion. The make this decision the transmissioncontroller 53 may include a decision circuit.

A more detailed scheme for carrying out the above embodiment is shown inFIGS. 9. The message flows are between the UE 10 and the PCU 22 andbetween the PCU 22 and the SGSN 5. FIG. 9 shows the case of a UEinitiated request for data transfer. Initially the UE 10 receives a GETinformation command (e.g. from a laptop running a browser) and makes arequest for data transfer on a control channel. This control channel maybe a random access channel (RACH) and the request may be transmittedseveral times (in case of contention). This request is assigned by thePCU to a specific traffic channel, i.e. to a timeslot or slots, with anImmediate Assignment message. The UE 10 responds with a Packet ResourceRequest (PRR). The PCU 22 responds with a Packet Uplink Assignmentmessage (PUAS) which contains the relevant TFI as well as the exact timewhen the transmission must take place. The UE 10 responds with a PackerControl Acknowledgement message (PCA). The UE 10 now transmits the datablocks required in a traffic channel using the timeslot specified at theappropriate time. In this case it is 11 blocks which BSN 0-10. To allowtracking of the end of the uplink data transmission, the UE 10 providesa reference identification, e.g. “CV” (Countdown Value), which countsdown the last few blocks of the transmission, e.g. the last 15 blocks.

At this point an optional message (PTR) to reconfigure for a downlinktransmission may be sent. This provides the timeslot and TFI for thetransmission and alerts the UE 10 to a coming downlink transmissionwhich saves time in setting this up later. This avoids sending a packetdownlink transmission to the relevant UE using, a control channel.However, the latter method is also within the scope of the presentinvention. The PCU 22, sends a GET information command to the SGSN, i.e.forwards the message just received from the UE 10. After the uplink datahas been received, the PCU 22 determines whether there were any badframes and requests retransmission from the UE of any frames or blocksthat are necessary. Then the uplink connection is released. In thepresent case 9 of the blocks are released with a PUAN message which isflagged with FAI=0, i.e. accepted. The UE can now delete these blocksfrom its buffer. However, the TBF is not terminated as BSN 9 and 10 havenot been accepted. On receipt of the requested data (http OK) from theSGSN 5, the PCU 22 transmits the relevant blocks. In this case blockswith BSN 0-3 with ARQ, blocks with BSN 4-6 and blocks with BSN 8, 9 withARQ. The UE 10 listens for the relevant TFI in the allocated timeslotfor a period of time, e.g. 5 seconds. The UE 10 decodes every block inthe timeslot allocated to it to see if it contains the specified TFI. Ifno reply comes within the predetermined time, the PCU 22 initiatesrelease of the downlink connection and the UE 10 no longer listens onthis timeslot. In this case the blocs with BSN 0-9 are transmitted. Atthis moment the PCU 22 determines that the 11 blocks transmitted on theuplink were all received correctly and the uplink TBF can be terminated.Accordingly it sends a PUAN message specifying 11 blocks (V(r)=11) withthe flag FAI=1. The UE 10 responds with a PCA message somewhat later.The PCU 22 can then safely stop the TBF. If the PCA is not sent the TBFis timed out. This terminates the uplink TBF. Having received the 10downlink blocks the UE 10 now transfers these blocks to the browser andawaits a response as to their correctness. In order to keep the downlinkTBF alive the UE 10 can send one or more PDAN messages, e.g. to releasea number of the received blocks (V(r)=8) or a PDAN which does notterminate the TBF. It is during this rime that the PCU transmissioncontroller 53 sends polling commands (here shown with BSN=9, S/P=1). Therate at which these commands are sent and the ability to vary this rateis an aspect of the present invention. In particular, any of the methodsof the present invention as detailed above and as claimed in theattached claims may be used to determine the polling interval and/orwhen this should be changed.

In response to the polling commands the UE 10 requests a channel using aPDAN channel request. This is assigned and acknowledged in theconventional manner. Then the UE 10 transmits the ACK information to thePCU 22. From this point on the procedure repeats itself.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference topreferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the artthat various changes or modifications in form and detail may be madewithout departing from the scope and spirit of this invention.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method of performing communication between afirst and a second radio link control (RLC)/medium access control (MAC)entity, comprising: performing, by the second RLC/MAC entity: receivinga set of data blocks from the first RLC/MAC entity; receiving aplurality of polling messages to request that the second RLC/MAC entityacknowledge receipt of the set of data blocks transmitted from the firstRLC/MAC entity to the second RLC/MAC entity; and transmitting at leastone acknowledgement message acknowledging receipt of one or more of theset of data blocks, the at least one acknowledgement message beingresponsive to a particular one of the plurality of polling messages;wherein receiving the plurality of polling messages comprises: receivinga first polling message after a previously received polling message,wherein an interval of time between reception of the previously receivedpolling message and reception of the first polling message is a firstpolling interval, and receiving a second polling message after the firstpolling message, wherein an interval of time between reception of thefirst polling message and reception of the second polling message is asecond polling interval, wherein the second polling interval isdifferent from the first polling interval, and wherein the secondpolling interval is based on at least one parameter of the set of datablocks.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the second polling intervalis based on one or more of: a size of one or more data blocks of the setof data blocks, or an amount of data blocks in the set of data blocks.23. The method of claim 21, wherein the second polling interval is basedon a quality of service information.
 24. The method of claim 21, whereinthe second polling interval is based on a service.
 25. The method ofclaim 21, wherein the set of data blocks are downlink data blocks. 26.The method of claim 21, wherein the second polling interval is setindependently of polling intervals for other RLC/MAC entities.
 27. Themethod of claim 21, wherein a first acknowledgement message of the atleast one acknowledgement message includes a positive acknowledgementfor a first data block of the set of data blocks and a negativeacknowledgement for a second data block of the set of data blocks.
 28. Asecond radio link control (RLC)/medium access control (MAC) entityconfigured to wirelessly communicate with a first RLC/MAC entity,wherein the second RLC/MAC entity comprises: an interface to one or moreantennas for performing wireless communication; and processing hardwarecoupled to the one or more antennas via the interface, wherein theprocessing hardware is configured to: receive, via the interface, aplurality of polling messages to request that the second RLC/MAC entityacknowledge receipt of a set of data blocks transmitted from the firstRLC/MAC entity to the second RLC/MAC entity; and transmit, via theinterface, from the second RLC/MAC entity at least one acknowledgementmessage acknowledging receipt of one or more of the set of data blocks,the at least one acknowledgement message being responsive to aparticular one of the plurality of polling messages; wherein to receivethe plurality of polling messages, the processing hardware is furtherconfigured to: receive, via the interface, a first polling message aftera previously transmitted polling message, wherein an interval of timebetween transmission of the previously transmitted polling message andtransmission of the first polling message is a first polling interval;and receive, via the interface, a second polling message after the firstpolling message, wherein an interval of time between transmission of thefirst polling message and transmission of the second polling message isa second polling interval, wherein the second polling interval isdifferent from the first polling interval, and wherein the secondpolling interval is determined responsive to at least one parameter ofthe set of data blocks.
 29. The second RLC/MAC entity of claim 28,wherein the second polling interval is based on a size of one or moredata blocks of the set of data blocks.
 30. The second RLC/MAC entity ofclaim 28, wherein the second polling interval is based on an amount ofdata blocks in the set of data blocks.
 31. The second RLC/MAC entity ofclaim 28, wherein the second polling interval is based on a service. 32.The second RLC/MAC entity of claim 28, wherein the second pollinginterval is based on a quality of service information.
 33. The secondRLC/MAC entity of claim 28, wherein the set of data blocks are downlinkdata blocks.
 34. The second RLC/MAC entity of claim 28, wherein thesecond polling interval is set independently of polling intervals forother RLC/MAC entities.
 35. The second RLC/MAC entity of claim 28,wherein a first acknowledgement message of the at least oneacknowledgement message includes a positive acknowledgement for a firstdata block of the set of data blocks and a negative acknowledgement fora second data block of the set of data blocks.
 36. An apparatus,comprising: a wireless interface; and a processing element coupled tothe wireless interface, wherein the processing element is configured to:receive, via the wireless interface, a plurality of polling messages torequest that a receiving radio link control (RLC)/medium access control(MAC) entity acknowledge receipt of a set of data blocks transmitted tothe receiving RLC/MAC entity; and transmit, via the wireless interface,from the receiving RLC/MAC entity at least one acknowledgement messageacknowledging receipt of one or more of the set of data blocks, the atleast one acknowledgement message being responsive to a particular oneof the plurality of polling messages; wherein to receive the pluralityof polling messages, the processing element is further configured to:receive, via the wireless interface, a first polling message after apreviously transmitted polling message, wherein an interval of timebetween transmission of the previously transmitted polling message andtransmission of the first polling message is a first polling interval;and receive, via the wireless interface, a second polling message afterthe first polling message, wherein an interval of time betweentransmission of the first polling message and transmission of the secondpolling message a second polling interval, wherein the second pollinginterval is different from the first polling interval, and wherein thesecond polling interval is determined responsive to at least oneparameter of the set of data blocks.
 37. The apparatus of claim 36,wherein the second polling interval is based on one or more of: a sizeof one or more data blocks of the set of data blocks, an amount of datablocks in the set of data blocks, a service, or a quality of serviceinformation.
 38. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the set of datablocks are downlink data blocks.
 39. The apparatus of claim 36, whereinthe second polling interval is set independently of polling intervalsfor other RLC/MAC entities.
 40. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein afirst acknowledgement message of the at least one acknowledgementmessage includes a positive acknowledgement for a first data block ofthe set of data blocks and a negative acknowledgement for a second datablock of the set of data blocks.